To wind up the first phase of MFour’s Millennial Insights Project, here’s Part 3, on Millennials’ views on Technology & Lifestyle — with a focus on the smartphones and other computing devices that are the dominant technology in their lives.

Our study aims to generate insights into this crucial, much-analyzed consumer cohort of more than 75 million Americans, while demonstrating to the market research industry that the fastest, most reliable and effective way to reach Millennials is on the devices that define them — the smartphones from which, as the results below show, they are in many cases literally inseparable.

The data for this report — and for the previous segments on Millennials & Entertainment and Millennials & Money and Finance — was obtained through the first wide-ranging, demographically representative study of Millennials undertaken solely by smartphone app. The fundamental premise is that Millennials are best engaged — and will have the most comfortable and productive survey-taking experience — on the mobile devices that fully engage them in all phases of their lives.

Using MFourDIY™, the first all-mobile, do-it-yourself survey platform, we obtained 1,000 validated responses within two hours from Millennials on the million-member active panel that uses the Surveys on the Go® smartphone app. The 30-question survey covered Entertainment, Money & Finance and Technology & Lifestyles, giving a representative picture of the U.S. Millennial population by sex, age, race/ethnicity, income and employment status.

These are key insights on how Millennials use smartphones and other computing devices.

Mobile is Multiple: Smartphone owners haven’t abandoned other computing devices – as long as those other devices meet the portability test. 87.1% also own a laptop, and 71.4% have a tablet.

But Smartphones are Essential: 92.3% of Millennials said they use their phones at least several times a day, compared to 32.1% for laptops. 44.9% said they spend at least five hours a day on their smartphones – compared to 23.3% who spend five or more hours on a personal computer (desktop or laptop). 79.3% of Millennials use their phones at least two hours a day, compared to 45.7% for personal computers.

Only 3.8% of respondents said they use their smartphones less than an hour a day. Millennials are far more likely to make sparing use of laptops and/or desktops – 26.3% report using them less than an hour a day.

A Constant Companion: 45.3% of Millennials say they keep their smartphones with them 24-7. 93.2% say they keep their phones on their persons or nearby at least 10 hours a day.

Minorities are Really Into Their Phones: Majorities of African Americans (57.1%) and Hispanics (51.6%) reported spending five hours or more per day on their phones; Asians (42%) also exceeded Caucasians (38.9%) when it came to epic phone usage.

Desktops are Bottoming Out: Millennials are pushing the granddaddy of personal computers into retirement. Only 45.2% of them own a desktop; men are the diehards, with 50.6% still holding on to desktops, compared to just 39.8% of women. Affluence is another predictor for ownership of what most Millennials apparently perceive as a luxury they can live without. 54.2% of respondents living in households with annual incomes of at least $75,000 said they had a desktop as well as a smartphone. Desktop ownership in Millennial households with earnings under $50,000 was 42%.

Only one-third of Millennials (33.1%) say they use a desktop computer at least once a day. Almost as many (30%) are now using wearable devices such as smart watches at least once a day.

Whole Lotta Checkin’ Goin’ On: 88.7% of Millennials check text messages the moment they get them. They’re considerably less compulsive about social media and app notifications (41.2% and 40.5%, respectively, get checked immediately). Email continues to trend downward — just 35.3% get opened right away. 51% check their apps’ push notifications at least once an hour, compared to 48.6% for email.

OK With Their OS: Overall, Millennials seem satisfied with whatever smartphone operating system they’re using now. Those saying they were likely or very likely to switch (25.6%) were outnumbered two-to-one by those who said they were unlikely or very unlikely to make a change (51.9%). That left 22.5% who could go either way.

However, there were differences in the degree of loyalty commanded by Apple’s iOS system and Google’s Android. They were comparable when it came to their shares of loyal users — — 53.8% of iOS users and 50.4% of Android users said they were likely or very likely not to switch devices. But on the other end, Android users were twice as likely to express discontent: 32.9% said they were likely or very likely to switch to a different OS, compared to 16.7% for iOS.

Can Google poach some of the 29.5% of iOS users who said they were neutral about keeping their current system, while persuading the 16.7% of neutral Android users to stay? Can Apple succeed in prying loose the one-third of Android-using Millennials who apparently are unimpressed with Google’s system? Or, with nearly half of Millennials either poised to change operating systems or sitting on the fence, is there an opening for other system designers to compete?

Meet Your Next App: When it comes to discovering new apps to download, Millennials rank advice from family and friends (61%), social media (60.4%) and Apple and Google’s app stores (56.7%) as by far the biggest influences. The advertising about apps that’s most likely to influence them is the kind they they receive through an app — 33..6% of Millennials cited in-app advertising as a factor, compared to 23.4% who said ads on television, radio or in print media helped them discover new apps. News coverage ranked last as a portal to discovering, cited as an influence by 15.1%.

When it came to using social media to discover apps to download, women were notably more active than men — 67.6% to 53.2%. The same goes for legacy advertising (television, radio and print), cited by 27.4% of women and 19.4% of men. African Americans also stood out in citing legacy advertising channels as a source of information about apps – 37.1% compared to 22.6% of Hispanics and 20.5% of Caucasians.

Just A Few Go A Long Way: About half of Millennials (50.7%) use 4 to 6 different mobile apps per day. At the extremes, just 15.4% use no more than 3 apps daily, and 13.5% use 10 or more. App usage varies little across ethnicities, age segments and gender.

Methodology

Using MFourDIY, the market research industry’s first all-mobile, do-it-yourself platform for designing and carrying out studies, MFour fielded a 30-question survey on Sept. 10 to Millennials who make up about 60% of its million-member active panel, all of whom participate in research via the Surveys on the Go® app for smartphones and tablets. Fielding time was less than two hours for 1,000 validated responses.

Responses reflected U.S. Millennials’ demographic profile: 50% male, 50% female; 56% Caucasian, 19% Hispanic/Latino, 14% African American/Black, 5% Asian, 1% each for Middle Eastern, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans/Alaskans; 3% Other. Age brackets were 18-24 (36%), 25-29 (31%) and 30-36 (33%). The study also segmented respondents by whether they were parents of children under 18, their type of work (full-time blue collar and white collar, part-time, unemployed), and their income (six brackets from $25,000 or less to $100,000 or more).

MFour has just hired Roger Nolasco as senior systems administrator for the firm. As senior systems administrator, Nolasco is responsible for the upkeep, configuration and efficient operations of the MFour computer systems and server. Nolasco comes to MFour from Distribution Service Technologies, LLC, where he supported infrastructure.

Linux+ certified, most of what Nolasco knows is self-taught. He attended Irvine Valley College as a computer science major, attributing his education there to his current success.

Roger was also mentioned in Quirks “Daily News Queue Publication’s” In the News section. Great to have you on board!

August is a busy month for MFour, with new hires, rollout of MediaMatch 360° technology, and news of our impending expansion to Newport Beach. Here are some of MFour’s recent press mentions below, including coverage by Quirks, Research-Live, and Daily Research News Online.

New Hires

MFour welcomed Andrea Han to the team as Senior Research Consultant. Han comes with 16 years of quantitative market research experience, click here to see press coverage by Research-Live

MediaMatch 360° Rollout

MediaMatch 360° launched, a product that integrates media matching technology, validates consumer behavior, and tests recall & behavior with a real-time view of consumers. Click here to see press coverage by: Quirks, by Research-Live, and by Daily Research News Online

MFour Expansion News

MFour is moving to a 14,000 square foot office in Newport Beach , effective November 1, to accommodate the growth of the company and its staff. Click here to see press coverage by Quirks and Daily Research News Online

National mobile market research company MFour Mobile Research is tripling its office space and relocating to larger offices to support the rapid growth of the business and its staff. The move will be effective November 1, 2015 to Newport Beach Gateway, where the offices will overlook Newport Beach’s Upper Back Bay Preserve.

MFour will occupy more than 14,000 square feet of space in its new building, compared to the 3,800 square feet it occupies at its current space. When asked about the move, MFour CEO Chris St. Hilaire explained, “it is important to get our growing staff on one floor so we remain collaborative as we continue to establish best practices for mobile market research designs and fielding.”

The larger space reflects the collaborative nature of the company and its core values, featuring an open floor plan, 3 conference rooms, quiet rooms for sales staff, along with work-life amenities such as an on-site gym and bistro.

MFour Mobile Research is the mobile market research industry leader. With its native app, Surveys on the Go® and the largest mobile panel in the industry, MFour leverages the advanced technologies found in todays mobile devices to acquire more accurate research data and reach the hardest-to-find demographic groups.

For more information about MFour Mobile Research, please visit mfour.com or call 714.754.1234 and ask for Allison Fletcher.

Stating emphatically, “Mobile is dead…the return of the beeper is near,” MFour CEO Chris St. Hilaire announced today the company will immediately close its 600,000 active person, mobile panel in favor of beeper-respondants wearing “super cool” belt clips.

While recent statistics indicate that more than 75% of Americans carry smartphones and that more people access the internet through smartphones than online desktop computers, even more Americans own belts, and there’s hardly anything to attach to them, according to St. Hilaire.

“I own one smartphone and four belts. I have a blue one, two blacks ones and a reversible one that I grew out of after the kids were born and I stopped having time to work out…but that’s not important right now,” said St. Hilaire.

The new four-step methodology is brilliant in its design: First, respondent attaches a beeper to their belt and waits for a “beep beep.” Second, they hear a “beep beep” and immediately head to the nearest phone booth. Third, they insert a quarter and dial the number back. Fourth, they take the survey.

MFour expects the technology to take hold even quicker than online panels are dying. For questions about our super cool beepers, open your rolodex, look up our number, head to a phone booth and give us a call. Either that or fax us. Happy April 1st everyone.

As you can see in the map below, over the last 7 days, we’ve conducted 1,012 interviews in dealerships across 34 states.

Current recall studies let respondents answer surveys up to six months after their visit. By that time, memories have faded and researchers are getting a ‘memory biased’ perspective on customer experiences.

But our Surveys on the Go app push notifies our more than 600,000 active respondents that a survey is available any time they leave an automotive dealership around the United States. Finally, you can hear from consumers as they leave the lot, at The Point-of-Emotion®about Purchase Intent, Brand Loyalty, Dealership Experience and more. And because our Native App tracks respondents from dealer to dealer, you can also understand where they’re headed next.

Moreover, Mobile Drivers lets a respondent record audio, video and take pictures of their experience, which is reported to clients through SPSS, Excel or MFour’s Proprietary Moment-to-Moment® Reporting Platform.

Our interviews validate the fact that in-dealership studies provide faster responses, better insights and more accurate data then any other product on the market. Click below and hear from actual respondents – one who purchased a new Hyundai and another who was looking for specific features, like a panoramic sunroof:

New Hyundai Sonata

Hyundai Santa Fe

We can interview by brand, by category, by type of driver and we can even add questions tailored to your needs within the omnibus portion of our weekly study. If you would like more information or get a free issue of our Mobile Drivers Weekly Report shoot us an email or give us a call. We would be happy to speak with you.

This study was a joint effort by Marketcast and MFour Mobile Research leveraging MFour’s mobile survey platform. The topic of study was what gamers expect (and want) from digital distribution.

Compared to around 2/3 of movies watched at home that are bought digitally, less than 1 in 5 console games purchased is a digital download. The majority are still bought via traditional physical discs.

Major publishers report that while their digital revenue is growing substantially, full game downloads make up a much smaller portion of this than subscriptions and add-on downloadable content.

Most coverage in the press focuses on the industry impact, and especially on the overall growth of digital revenue, of which game sales are still a small part. Instead, we decided to talk directly to gamers and find out how they feel about the digital shift in gaming compared to other forms of entertainment, and what they want from this shift.

Using MFour’s native app, Surveys On The Go, respondents were asked to use their front facing cameras to capture deeper insights. Here is what they had to say:

Current-generation console owners are more likely to be buying games digitally than previous-gen gamers, where only 2 in 5 gamers have bought a game digitally in the past year.

Gamers who subscribe to their console’s premium tier – Xbox Live Gold, PlayStation Plus – are also more likely to be buying games digitally than those who just belong to the free tier.

And gamers who play on both console and PC may be accustomed to downloading games on their computers via Steam, but being a regular Steam user doesn’t carry that download-know-how over to console usage; playing games on Steam has no impact on gamers’ willingness to download games on console.

Among HD console owners, men are a bit more likely to download games, but women are not too far behind. The gap between men and women downloaders is fairly similar to the gap between men and women gamers overall.

And, although teens might be hooked on digital-everything, older millennials and parents are actually more likely to be downloaders.

All of these console owners tend to have Netflix subscriptions, and they use their cable’s video on demand about equally. But downloaders – along with older millennials and parents – are big on spending their entertainment dollars at home, so not only are they buying games digitally, they’re also subscribing to more digital platforms like Amazon, Hulu, and HBO Go.

Compared to non-downloaders, gamers who buy games digitally spend 15-20% more on last-gen games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 overall. And they spend 30-40% more on games for current gen consoles.

Even though most still prefer physical copies, gamers admit that they’re personally driving this shift toward digital forward. Almost no one says that they expect to be downloading FEWER games in the future.

A majority of both downloaders and non-downloaders all agree that digital distribution is the direction that we’re headed in for video game purchasing.

Downloaders are more likely to say they’re pleased that digital downloading is the future of gaming, but even they are not 100% ready. Non-downloaders still mostly think that downloading is the inevitable future, but they’re more likely to say they aren’t happy about that.

This is true regardless of what group you look at. Males and females, teens and adults all prefer physical copies. So do those who pay to subscribe to premium tiers like Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus. Even downloaders prefer physical copies over digital when it comes down to it.

The act of having a physical disc feels more real and as a result tangible value becomes intangible value. Physicality creates a perception of more value; having something tangible is important on its own. But also, down the road, it becomes a form of currency.

Those two forms of value – the tangible use of games as currency, and the intangible feeling of ownership, make up the main reasons why gamers keep purchasing physical rather than digital. The other side of physical purchasing is mostly made up of a sense of security: people fear that they will be prevented from keeping their purchases because of hard drive space, consoles crashing, or gaming companies changing the rules.

Gamers are actually very satisfied with the functional experience of downloading. Aside from storage space, the tech is not a problem.

They personally feel that not having to interact with store employees, along with not even having to go to the store, is one of the advantages of downloading over buying physical copies.

Virtually everyone wins except for the physical retailers. Gamers are optimistic that they will benefit from a digital shift in the long run, and they expect brick-and-mortar stores to be the only ones who really suffer.

In the world of movies, the retailers played a part in encouraging the digital shift along. Big-box stores promoted DVDs and Blu-Rays as loss-leaders, with heavy markdowns and those big boxes of random DVDs to dig through. This helped make the physical product seem less valuable, and consumers placed less premium on owning the discs, which primed the market for a digital shift.

That’s not likely to happen in the gaming world. Games are sold with a comparatively higher volume out of gaming-specialty stores rather than big-box stores, and gaming-specific retailers are unlikely to turn their main product into a loss leader by cutting down the base price.

And what do respondents think about the long run for downloading games?

Or, instead of downloading full games, consumers are open to the gaming industry taking a fully different route and following directly after the footsteps of movies and music, to offer something like a streaming service membership. This is still in its infancy, but services like PlayStation Now are trying to redefine digital gaming with streaming possibilities. And gamers are definitely open to that.

In fact, a monthly subscription is more appealing than a future console with all digital downloads… with the exception of one that makes games cost less overall.

While some gamers note that the file size and the need for zero lag will be a hurdle to overcome for streaming games, they like the idea especially because it overcomes the fear of getting stuck with a dud that you can’t return or sell back.

For more information on MFour’s mobile solutions, click on the solutions tab at the top, or fill out the form below.